Baseball: Vanderbilt 10 West Virginia 5

Vanderbilt Media Release

02/17/2002

NASHVILLE - Vanderbilt outfielder John Kaye supplied the power and senior pitcher Steven Faulkner provided the pitching as the Commodores cruised past visiting West Virginia 10-5 Sunday at Hawkins Field. The victory gave Vanderbilt (3-0) the two-game series swept over the Mountaineers (0-2).

In the bottom of the third inning, Kaye hit a grand slam over the right-field wall off West Virginia starter Dustin Nippert (0-1) to spark the Vanderbilt attack.

The Commodores added three more runs in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly by outfielder Karl Nonemaker, an RBI-double by shortstop Tony Mansolino and an RBI-triple by first baseman Sean Luellwitz.

Vanderbilt finished its scoring with another three-run inning in the fifth. Nonemaker tripled down the right-field line, scoring second baseman Scott Vanderhoff and designated hitter John Prothro. Nonemaker scored on the following play, a throwing error by Mountaineer shortstop Eric Grim.

Faulkner (1-0) shutdown West Virginia during his six innings of work. The right-hander from Hendersonville, Tenn., surrendered only three hits and four walks while striking out fou0r Mountaineers.

"We played well through the first seven innings," Vanderbilt Head Coach Roy Mewbourne said. "Faulkner pitched well. We executed well in certain scoring situations. And John Kaye got us off and running with his grand slam."

Commodore left-hander John Scott made his collegiate debut in the seventh inning, allowing one hit before assisting in a double play and forcing a fly out. Left-hander Jay Smith pitched the ninth inning for Vanderbilt, allowing a hit and a walk and striking out one.

West Virginia scored four times off freshman Jeff Sues in the seventh inning when the freshman right-hander allowed the first five batters to reach base on a double, walk and three singles.

Vanderbilt returns to action Wednesday, Feb. 20, when it plays host to Lipscomb. Game time is set for 3 p.m.